Episode 04 - The Aspired My Brand
(Officially The Brand I Yearn For) is the fourth episode of the Aikatsu Friends! anime series. It aired on April 26th, 2018.All information on this page belongs to Aikatsu Friends! Wiki. Summary Idols become fully-fledged when they obtain their own brand. Taking advice from Chiharu, a stylist at her production company, the still rookie idol Aine goes to look for a brand that fits her. Although there are various brands, nothing seems to click. In this time, Aine has a fateful encounter! Plot As part of the Star Harmony Academy's new student debut concert, Aine is expected to put on a performance. Surprised, she listens as Tamaki points out while she is not a new student, she wasn't an Idol before and will be having her first, real official debut. Mio joins them to congratulate Aine and mentions how popular the debut event is, with several Idol fans tuning in to check it out, and hearing this, Aine is further encouraged to put on a wonderful performance. Later, Penne sees off customers while Mio helps Aine prepare for her concert. She brings up how important the song and dance portion is for a debut concert- as well as attire. This is the time when the Idols determine what brand they will use for their career, and she reveals that she brought a fashion magazine to help Aine decide. As Aine fawns over the variety of clothing, Mio points out that it is important to choose a brand that befits the users personality and the type of Idol they want to be seen as. Seeing that Aine struggles to make up her mind, Mio suggests that she uses her instinct to choose. As Aine resumes looking, Momone comes by with a free dessert for Mio. Aine scolds her by saying their mother wouldn't like that- but Momone is quickly distracted when she spots a magazine featuring the new coords by Material Color. She mentions how she would like to wear a coord from the brand one day; but to her disappointment Penne forces her to leave the room at this point. Mio appears momentarily taken with the penguin as he flashes her an expression, but she snaps out of it after Aine apologizes for the momentary distraction. She claims it is fine, then asks if she found anything yet. Aine mentions that while this has helped her, she likes every single thing and can't pick just one. She asks Mio what caused her to decide to make her own brand, and Mio recalls a decision she made prior to becoming an Idol that she wanted to make her own brand. Before she became an Idol she had done a lot of analytical work to decide what style she liked. Then she went to a fashion store to try something on that would be similar to it. Momentarily Aine stops the story to ask Mio if she was still a child in grade school at this point and remarks that she was overly prepared. Mio simply laughs as Aine asks her what type of image she gives her, but she suggests that she speaks to Chiharu; a staff member from the school who specializes in styling. Aine recalls meeting her as Mio brings up how informed of style she is, and the following day she pays her a visit. She steps into the large and dark room to find nobody inside, and walks through it to suddenly notice a sketched design laying on the desk. She is curious by the brands name "Sugar Melody", and returns to the door as Chiharu arrives back. She brings up how she came for help choosing a brand for her debut performance and Chiharu agrees to help her. She asks if she would like tea, and Aine accepts before asking if Sugar Melody is her brand. Chiharu claims it isn't a brand though, and that she only draws coords as a hobby. Aine expresses disappointment hearing this and observes another sketch before joining Chiharu at a table, where they proceed to look through some coords befitting her appearance. Aine finds herself interested in all of the combinations Chiharu came up with, and she asks to try them all on for the time being. She then asks Chiharu which would fit her best, and Chiharu takes a second to determine Candy Party, a pop-type brand could fit her energetic personality. Excited, Aine decides to head to the brands headquarters. She returns a few hours later to inform Chiharu of her rejection. Candy Party is too full at the time and unable to take on any more Idols. Chiharu feels badly for her but isn't surprised, mentioning how popular the brand is at the moment. However, Aine adds that she almost got it- except for the last girl who got in, due to arriving before her. But she is happy anyway because they became friends instead. She made conversation with the girl, Nako, who mentioned coming from Nagoya in order to wear Candy Party's clothing. She feels bad that Aine wasn't accepted, but Aine claims it's fine because she can see how much Nako loves the brand. She asks to see the coord she was given more closely and got a few pictures with her afterwards. Chiharu expresses amazement knowing that Aine was capable of befriending someone she just met, and Aine brings up her desire to make one-million friends. With that knowledge, Chiharu muses over Mio scouting Aine as a partner and then suggesting she become an Idol. She takes this into account and suggests she uses the cute-type brand "Girly Girly" instead. Aine leaves for the office but returns, once again rejected- but this time because the designer is away holding a show overseas. By now Chiharu feels remorse, mentioning that she should have checked before sending Aine out for nothing twice now, but Aine is fine since she made another new friend. As she shows Chiharu the book she explains how the woman at the desk offered her a tour of the building, and they became friends. She finds Chiharu momentarily distracted and asks for another brand, but rather then look Chiharu offers to find a few more for her the following day since it is getting late. They part ways and Chiharu returns to her desk to observe her sketches. That night Aine lays in bed and expresses concern over finding herself a brand. But as she tries to sleep she thinks about Chiharu's designs again and finds herself overwhelmed by a new feeling. The following day, Aine is in the middle of dance training until Ken calls a break. He compliments Aine and mentions how much she has improved since she started, and she happily encourages him to continue. She is momentarily distracted when Mio suddenly shows up with a drink for her. She changes back into her uniform and they head outside, where Mio muses that Aine could probably work for a drink brand due to her lively response. But once Aine gets overwhelmed as Mio discusses how much someone could obtain by sponsoring a drink, they quickly change subject. She asks if she chose a brand yet, and Aine sadly brings up what happened the prior day. Mio reminds her to take her time so that she finds the right brand that will spark her interest; but suddenly Aine proclaims that she is in love. Shocked by her words, Mio notices Ken nearby and fears the worst as she recalls how they interacted earlier. Hearing how dedicated Aine is to confessing her feelings, Mio panics and tries to talk her out of it while she makes her way towards Ken- then walks right past him. This leaves them confused when she suddenly decides to confess to Chiharu. Back at her office, Aine approaches her and asks to wear Sugar Melody. Mio is relieved to hear this; having followed her as Chiharu reminds her that it isn't a brand. Aine refuses to take no for an answer, asking that she can debut it as a brand when she performs. She recalls the feeling she got after seeing the designs, and how she has been unable to stop thinking about them since. Chiharu takes a moment before remarking on how special Aine is as she remembers what led her to making coord design a hobby. In the past she dreamed of becoming a designer- but her teacher was very critical and didn't believe she had the needed assertiveness for it. She could see that she wanted it, but she lacked the passion. Now feeling that it has been found, Chiharu decides to make Sugar Melody a reality for Aine and she thanks her, although she claims that she should thank Aine instead; revealing that she spent the previous night finishing her designs because of her. Mio joins them to congratulate Aine, and Aine promises to work twice as hard to make her designs shine brightly. Feeling inspired, Aine continues to train and focus on improvement while Chiharu works on her designs. Soon she sits down for tea with Tamaki and Mio, and she suddenly recalls that Mio must have taken part in this debut concert too. She confirms that she did, and mentions being really nervous until seeing how everything looked from the stage. She couldn't contain her excitement any longer and has since only focused on Aikatsu. Tamaki also points out that Mio won the Audience Choice Award from the event, and shows her a picture of it. Aine remarks that since then Mio has appeared to mature and experience as an Idol, causing Mio to tease her while Tamaki mentally remarks on their budding friendship. On the day of the performance various fans, family, and classmates show up for the event. Behind the stage Aine thanks Chiharu for her design as she admires the cards in her hands, and Chiharu mentions basing the design on her specifically, so it is a special design only for her. Eagerly Aine takes the cards and changes into the Little Charmant coord, appearing on stage to perform "Thank_You⇄It'll_Be_Alright". Later, a few classmates walk by a Maika as she stands by herself, chatting about Aine and her wonderful performance. Maika turns on her phone and greets Coco, asking her for information about Aine. In turn, Coco explains that Aine is a new Idol who transferred from the normal track of the school to become an Idol. It is revealed that Aine won the same Audience Choice Award as Mio while Maika observes an article about her brand, Sugar Melody. Maika remarks on how good Aine is for being able to help Chiharu- but after hearing that Aine put on her first performance with Mio she is inspired to seek Aine out. But suddenly she puts on a smile and heads down the corridor. Characters *Aine Yūki *Mio Minato *Tamaki Enjōji *Chiharu Hachiya *Ken Mayuzumi *Maika Chōno *Coco *Momone Yūki *Masamune Yūki *Nene Yūki *Kazune Yūki *Suzune Yūki *Yoshitsune Yūki *Penne *Himari Hirata *Iroha Inoue Trivia *The Little Charmant Coord makes its debut in this episode. *The song Thank You⇄It'll Be Alright debuts as an insert song. *The brand Sugar Melody makes its debut. *During Aine's conversation with Nako, the poster behind her features Ichigo, Akari, Yume, and Hime from the previous Aikatsu! and Aikatsu Stars! series. Gallery References Category:Anime Category:Episodes